When thinking about the concept and theme of inheritance, it is easy to jump right to assuming that inheritance involves money, property, a title, or all of the above. This is the traditionally accepted form of inheritance, but for Corinne, I would argue that it’s more important to think of inheritance as a legacy or trace that is left behind that has future influence or affect. Within the text, we see the legacy of previous authors and other literatures, like Romeo and Juliet, but we also see the legacy of one’s past and one’s family. As was discussed in class, Lord Nelvil doesn’t discuss his monetary or familial inheritance from his father, but the legacy (or ghostly trace) of his father and his father’s wishes have a profound effect on his life and his actions. The continued references to “the most poignant grief of all, the loss of [his] father” (5) and the influence of Oswald’s guilt over his perceived role in his father’s illness and death influence his actions and his final decisions regarding his relationship with Corinne and his decision of marrying Lucile.
Similarly, Lady Edgermond’s opinion and views affects not only Lucile, but also Corinne and her view of English domestic life. She is described, even as she is dying, as “a lady without indulgence, who was concerned only with duty and the feelings it allows; everything which departed from this path was anathema” (371). The focus on Lady Edgermond shows us the inherited social and cultural norms that are seen and applauded in Lucile, and critiqued as lacking in Corinne. This is further explained when we, along with Lord Nelvil, read his father’s description of Corinne as needing “to please, to charm, to attract attention. She has far more gifts than vanity, but such exceptional talents are bound to arouse the desire to develop them, and I do not know what audience can satisfy the intellectual activity, the eager imagination, the ardent nature, which can be felt in alls he says” (317-18). This perspective of Corinne is likewise a legacy that the prior Lord Nelvil leaves his son.
To me, it seems it’s important to the novel for one to recognize the influences and legacies of one’s family, one’s society, and one’s own nature. Maybe this is what we, as readers, are supposed to “learn” from the novel – similar to what Foucault said, we are all subjected to social structures and social constructions, as well as familial and historical legacies. The only we can break away from these legacies is to not to try to engage in them. Unfortunately for Corinne, by engaging in the legacy of the tragedy, which we are told cannot exist in Italy (despite the influence of Italy and Italian sentiments in Romeo and Juliet), she succumbs to the legacy of the tragic tradition and cannot break the legacy of traditional patriarchal social norms, like we see in Oswald and Lucile’s relationship.
When thinking about the concept and theme of inheritance, it is easy to jump right to assuming that inheritance involves money, property, a title, or all of the above. This is the traditionally accepted form of inheritance, but for Corinne, I would argue that it’s more important to think of inheritance as a legacy or trace that is left behind that has future influence or affect. Within the text, we see the legacy of previous authors and other literatures, like Romeo and Juliet, but we also see the legacy of one’s past and one’s family. As was discussed in class, Lord Nelvil doesn’t discuss his monetary or familial inheritance from his father, but the legacy (or ghostly trace) of his father and his father’s wishes have a profound effect on his life and his actions. The continued references to “the most poignant grief of all, the loss of [his] father” (5) and the influence of Oswald’s guilt over his perceived role in his father’s illness and death influence his actions and his final decisions regarding his relationship with Corinne and his decision of marrying Lucile.
Similarly, Lady Edgermond’s opinion and views affects not only Lucile, but also Corinne and her view of English domestic life. She is described, even as she is dying, as “a lady without indulgence, who was concerned only with duty and the feelings it allows; everything which departed from this path was anathema” (371). The focus on Lady Edgermond shows us the inherited social and cultural norms that are seen and applauded in Lucile, and critiqued as lacking in Corinne. This is further explained when we, along with Lord Nelvil, read his father’s description of Corinne as needing “to please, to charm, to attract attention. She has far more gifts than vanity, but such exceptional talents are bound to arouse the desire to develop them, and I do not know what audience can satisfy the intellectual activity, the eager imagination, the ardent nature, which can be felt in alls he says” (317-18). This perspective of Corinne is likewise a legacy that the prior Lord Nelvil leaves his son.
To me, it seems it’s important to the novel for one to recognize the influences and legacies of one’s family, one’s society, and one’s own nature. Maybe this is what we, as readers, are supposed to “learn” from the novel – similar to what Foucault said, we are all subjected to social structures and social constructions, as well as familial and historical legacies. The only we can break away from these legacies is to not to try to engage in them. Unfortunately for Corinne, by engaging in the legacy of the tragedy, which we are told cannot exist in Italy (despite the influence of Italy and Italian sentiments in Romeo and Juliet), she succumbs to the legacy of the tragic tradition and cannot break the legacy of traditional patriarchal social norms, like we see in Oswald and Lucile’s relationship.